Real estate agencies
Questions to Ask a Realtor When Buying: A Buyer's Checklist for 2026
The key questions to ask a realtor when buying, from local track record and availability to buyer agreements and the 2024 commission changes.
Questions to Ask a Realtor When Buying: A Buyer's Checklist for 2026
Hiring an agent is one of the first real decisions you make as a buyer, and it sets the tone for everything that follows. The agent you pick controls how you see listings, how hard someone negotiates on your behalf, and how much you understand before you sign anything. Most buyers interview one agent, like them, and move forward. That is a mistake worth avoiding, because a short conversation up front tells you far more than a friendly referral ever will.
The good questions are not complicated. They are about local track record, how the person works day to day, and how they get paid now that the commission rules changed in 2024. Ask them before you commit, and ask a few more once you are out looking at homes together. Below is what to cover and what a strong answer sounds like versus a vague one.
Start With Experience in Your Area and Price Range
An agent who sells 30 homes a year across a metro is not the same as one who knows your specific town and your specific budget. Real estate is local down to the street, and pricing, competition, and even inspection quirks vary by neighborhood and by price band. A great agent for a $1.5 million purchase may have almost no recent activity in the $350,000 range where the pace and the buyer pool look completely different.
Ask how many buyers they have represented in the last 12 months in the area you are targeting, then ask about your price range specifically. Someone who works your bracket regularly will know which listings are overpriced, how fast homes go under contract, and what a reasonable offer looks like this month rather than last year. If the answer is a lot of general talk and no numbers, that tells you something too.
You also want to know they can read the local data. Ask what average days on market looks like right now in your target zip codes, and whether homes are closing above or below list. According to national figures from Redfin and Realtor.com, days on market and sale-to-list ratios have swung a lot over the past two years, so a current, specific answer matters more than a confident guess.
How to Test Their Local Knowledge
Pick a listing you already looked at online and ask what they think of it. A strong agent will tell you the tradeoffs within a minute: the price relative to comparable sales, the layout, the commute, whether the roof or systems might be near replacement age. You are not looking for a sales pitch. You are looking for someone who knows the housing well enough to talk you out of a bad buy.
If you are relocating, this matters even more. Ask them to name a few areas that fit your criteria and explain the tradeoffs in commute time, schools, and price. Keep the focus on features and facts. A good agent describes the homes and the area, not the people who live there.
Ask How Available They Are and Who Actually Helps You
Availability decides whether you get to see a hot listing on Saturday morning or hear about it Monday after it went under contract. In a fast segment, homes can go pending within a few days, and a buyer who cannot get a showing scheduled quickly loses out. So ask directly: what is your typical response time, and what happens when you are with another client and a new listing hits that I want to see?
Some agents work solo and answer everything themselves. Others run a team, where a licensed partner or an assistant handles showings and paperwork. Neither model is wrong, but you should know which one you are getting. If it is a team, ask who your main point of contact will be and who shows up to your closing. Buyers are sometimes surprised to meet the lead agent once and then work with someone they never interviewed.
Communication style is part of this. Ask how they prefer to stay in touch, whether that is text, email, or calls, and how often you can expect updates during an active search. A quick conversation about response times now prevents the frustration that builds when messages go unanswered during a competitive offer.
Get Clear on the Buyer Agreement and How They Are Paid
This is where 2024 changed the game, and it is the question most buyers still skip. Following the National Association of Realtors settlement that took effect in August 2024, buyers now sign a written buyer representation agreement before touring homes with an agent, and that agreement spells out how the agent gets paid. Commissions are no longer assumed to come automatically from the seller's side in every deal. You need to understand the terms before you sign.
Ask what their commission is and how it is calculated, usually a percentage of the purchase price. Then ask the part that matters most now: if the seller is not offering to cover your agent's fee, who pays it? In many markets sellers still offer to cover buyer-side compensation, but it is negotiable on every deal and no longer guaranteed. A straight answer here tells you the agent is comfortable with the new rules. Vagueness is a red flag.
Read the length and exclusivity of the agreement before you sign. Some agents ask for a six-month exclusive commitment across a whole region. You can often negotiate a shorter term, a single property, or a specific area, especially for a first outing while you decide if the fit is right. Ask whether you can cancel and how. These terms are negotiable, and a confident agent will walk you through them without pressure.
Questions That Protect Your Budget
Ask how any fee gap gets handled if it comes up. If a seller offers less than your agent's rate, the difference can land on you at closing, and that is money you want to plan for, not discover late. A good agent will tell you how they handle that situation and how they try to negotiate seller-paid compensation into your offer.
Also ask about any extra charges beyond the commission, such as a transaction or administrative fee some brokerages add. Get the full picture in writing. You should never sign a representation agreement with fees you cannot explain back in plain language.
Ask About Negotiation, Process, and References
Negotiation is the part of the job you are really paying for, and it is worth probing. Ask how they would approach an offer in the current market, whether that means going in strong on price, using inspection and appraisal terms as leverage, or advising you to walk when a deal turns bad. You want someone who has a real strategy and has closed enough deals to know when to push and when to hold.
Walk through the whole process with them from offer to closing. A good agent can explain earnest money, the inspection window, the appraisal, and financing contingencies in a way that makes sense to you. If you leave the conversation more confused than when you started, that is a preview of the whole transaction. Clarity now predicts clarity later.
Finally, ask for references from two or three recent buyers, then call them. Ask whether the agent returned calls quickly, whether the closing went smoothly, and whether they would use the agent again. You can also check that the agent's license is active through your state's real estate commission. A short reference check catches problems that a polished first meeting hides. For more buyer guides like this one, browse the Top10RE blog.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many agents should I interview before choosing one?
Talk to at least two or three before you commit. Interviewing more than one gives you a baseline to compare experience, communication style, and fees, and it costs you nothing but an hour or so each. Most buyers who only meet one agent never learn what a stronger option would have looked like.
Do I really have to sign a buyer agreement before looking at homes?
In most cases now, yes. Since the NAR settlement took effect in August 2024, buyers typically sign a written representation agreement before an agent tours homes with them. The terms are negotiable, so you can often ask for a shorter timeframe or a single-property agreement for a first showing while you decide on fit.
What if the seller does not cover my agent's commission?
Then that cost can fall to you, which is why you ask about it up front. In many deals your agent will negotiate for the seller to cover buyer-side compensation as part of the offer, but it is no longer automatic. Ask your agent how they handle a shortfall so you can budget for it before you write an offer.
Is a bigger team better than a solo agent?
Not necessarily. A team can offer faster showing coverage and backup when your main agent is busy, while a solo agent gives you one consistent point of contact through the whole deal. Ask who will actually handle your showings, your offer, and your closing, then pick the setup that fits how you want to work.
